2 Kings 17:32, commentary and pictures

The verse describes the people who became the Samaritans, who had once belonged to Israel but became divided from them through transgression in neglecting God's statutes, and whom the Lord allowed to be overcome by an idolatrous nation with whom they intermixed until their religion was gradually contaminated and corrupted. Though they feared the Lord, they made priests for the high places from among themselves, even from the lowest of them, to offer sacrifices for them in the houses of the high places. They worshiped according to the ceremonies given through Moses but mingled that worship with the taint of idolatry, so their religion was and continued to be a mixture of Judaism and heathenism.

They still preserved reverence for the true God yet represented Him by images of wood and stone, claiming their idols merely reminded them of the living God. But they bowed in worship before images and graven images and remained prone to reverence them.

After the Jews refused them a part in rebuilding the temple at Jerusalem, they built a rival temple on Mount Gerizim in opposition to the house of God at Jerusalem and refused to respect Jerusalem as the true place of worship. In the days of Nehemiah those who would not separate from idolatrous wives and those expelled from the congregation, including men who had held high positions in the work of God, joined the Samaritans. To strengthen the alliance the Samaritans promised to adopt more fully the Jewish faith and customs.

Their claim to be the people of God produced lasting schism, emulation, and enmity between the two nations from generation to generation. Disasters attended them and their temple was destroyed, which forced them to believe God was punishing their apostasy, so they sought teachers from the Jews and their views of God and His requirements became clearer and their service resembled more nearly that of the Jews. Yet to a certain degree they still clung to idolatry and remained out of harmony with the Jews.